I'm a lot more pissed at people who eat this stuff up than the stations. If people didn't watch it, it wouldn't exist. I still don't get how it's exploitative to not pay someone. Nobody is forcing them to go on the show, and are most likely having some fun. In the end it's a crappy product but I don't see anything exploitative about it. Now, if they were just going around and filming people and getting contracts signed while people are in an inebriated state or something like that, that would be exploitative. Not this.
It's tricky, right? On the surface it seems like it might not count as exploitation if someone agrees to it willingly, participates enthusiastically and theoretically knows all the possible outcomes, like for example they could end up an embarrassing youtube remix sensation. But you and I both know that people who seek out attention on a scale that large and ridiculous, like people who are willing to endure all of that potential humiliation just so they can get the very specific kind of fame a reality tv show brings, are not average people. Their desire for that kind of fame (I know I'm totally generalizing here; I'm sure the Musical Nephew is not the same as, like, someone who auditions for Big Brother) is so strong and overpowering that they can't see all the incredibly obvious risks that keep most people from wanting to be on Survivor or whatever. And the people who produce these shows know that, and they exploit it, or at least they play on it in a way that is not defensible or moral or cool.
I'm not suggesting we should shut down the industry or anything, I'm just saying I think you're being kinda deliberately obtuse.
(Plus I don't think it's fair to make people responsible for the art they consume or enjoy. Like while potential sales are a pretty big influence on whether or not the next Twilight book gets published, it's not the kids who read the book who have to write it, i.e. it's the person or people who make the thing who are responsible both for what they make and what their motivations are for making it. Nor is it fair to be "pissed" at others for having what you feel is bad taste. But that's a whole other thing.)
